The Orphans
by naomi-the-black-wolf
Summary: This story begins before FFVII and runs through Advent Children. It is all told through the eyes of Suna. R&R.
1. Prologue

When you think of a conventional family, you think of a family of four, with a father, mother, and two children, preferably a boy and a girl. Though there are some families with only one child or more than two and other families with one parent or maybe an extra set. Then there are families like ours, there are still four of us, but there used to be six. We're different than all the rest. We're orphans. Our father died three years ago at war and our mother died a year later, they say she was sick.

Our lives had always revolved around Shinra, which became ironic after the Wutai war began. We were wutaiian and we looked it. It was a surprise that we weren't rejected from the society on either side of the medium. Rye was a good SOLDIER and a loyal wutaiian; he kept us all stable in the world of politics and society.

Though, his fighting in the Wutai war had always bothered Akio and me. We were strong on following our heritage, just as strong as we were on becoming Turks. Of the four of us, we looked the most wutaiian. Plus, we were twins. Our hair was long and black. Akio's was seemed so long because he's male and on a male, hair that passed your shoulders is long. My hair was inches longer, down to the center of my back. We had the same eyes too, hazel. We were built like our mother, with middle sized bones and we were strong, just like she was. She was too strong to have died from a disease, we knew that. So we said it was heart break that killed her. It was always so much more romantic than dying just because the Lifestream wanted her back.

Rye, on the other hand, was built like our father. Strong, fit, muscular, perfect for a SOLDIER, something they both were. He had the same dark hair as we did, but it was shorter than Akio's. He kept it spiky too. It always seemed like at least one girl was after his heart. I could see why though. If I weren't his sister, I would have felt the same way, but not because of his build. It was his eyes I always loved. They were always loving, always protective. It was a shock to think he had killed. His eyes were the rarest color for a wutaiian, light blue with darker blue flecks sprinkled within them.

At this time, we were never sure who Tobar looked like. He was only eleven then and his looks always changed. One year he'd look like mom, the next he'd look like dad. Yet, his hair was a lighter color, dark brown instead of jet black. It made him look "distinctive". That's what mom told him when he asked why he didn't have the same dark hair as the rest of us. He had the average brown eyes of a wutaiian. That's what Tobi was, average. He never wanted to be much; he just wanted to fight in the Shinra army one day. He never had his chance either, he was about to apply when Shinra collapsed. So, he was just an average person, with an average job. Akio never became much more either.


	2. Chapter 1

You could say our lives changed when our parents died, most people would think that. But I know when it changed; it was the day the Wutai war began. Rye had just picked us up from school and we were on our way home. A little fight was taking place in the back seat over one of Tobi's books, a glorified SOLDIER story. Akio was trying to take it from him, saying it would corrupt his mind with inaccuracies. He was probably right.

"Suna, tell Tobar this story is nothing like the career of a SOLDIER. I mean do you think that Sephiroth has…" He paused to skim the book, which was hard since Tobi still had a hold of it. "…saved an entire forest of animals just to do it? Do you, Rye?" He was searching for back up, which neither of us would offer. Though we agreed with him, we didn't want to shatter our youngest brother's spirits.

"You know, the SOLDIERs are heading out today," Rye commented nonchalantly. He had looked over his shoulder for a moment to look at Tobi, to see his eyes light up. As he spoke, he was speeding up, but, surprisingly, we didn't notice this at the time. Mission accomplished for Rye, I suppose.

"Really? Where are they going?" His question was full of eagerness. I'm sure he wanted to be in SOLDIER at one point in time; all young boys did back then. Well…Akio was an exception.

"Wutai." It was eerie how calmly he had said that. In spite of the fact that he was speeding down the road. Even though that was our homeland he was talking about, he said it like it was nothing. I had turned back to Akio, who shared the same look of shock.

"Why!" we demanded together. Like I said, we were loyal to our heritage.

"It's a power thing. If Shinra wins this, they will be the biggest power in the world." Rye was still calm, and still speeding down the road.

"But doesn't it bother you? That's our home, Rye. We were born there." I was staring at him, and according to Akio, I looked upset. I believe it too. Wutai is a beautiful place. War, especially one with Shinra, would destroy that.

He turned to me with a smile that caused my anger to ebb away. "Of course it does. But this is my chance to get into SOLDIER. They'll be recruiting, and if I volunteer, I think I might be able to get in." I guess I felt sort of guilty after that. He was just looking out for his future and the future of our family. It may be a silly thing, but I still feel bad that I never apologized for it. I never thought to. And I never had the chance.

"From the looks of it, we're about to catch up with them."

Tobar and Rye had still been talking while I zoned out. His comment baffled me for a moment, until I saw what was in front of us. A convoy of Shinra trucks that was heading toward the edge of Midgar. It was then that it became obvious Rye had been speeding and his reason was to catch up with them. He had the eyes of a hawk and had probably seen them back when the conversation started. Now we were tailing the last truck in the line, which was driving in the right lane on the four lane road. Our car was the closest to them; Rye was probably the only one insane enough to dare. Maybe he was trying to make an early name for himself with the SOLDIERs or he maybe he was just doing it for fun. It was most likely a combination of the two.

Rye pulled into the left lane, still drifting behind the convoy. He was silent now as he judged the distance between the trucks. He pressed the gas a little harder and moved up beside the last truck. The driver shot us a glare. All he did was punch the gas again and pass the truck. Rye was driving the car in the same manner that he drove his motorcycle, ducking in and out between trucks and driving up the middle. If it had been anyone but Rye driving, we probably would have been scared to death. We trusted him with our lives, in spite of his bouts of insanity.

Our car was close to the head of the convoy now, where the higher ranked SOLDIERs would be. They had to lead the rest of the army into battle after all. This is the part where Rye using this stunt to impress them comes into play. Go to the front where Sephiroth would most likely be and show off. It was a good plan, in a way, but I don't think it was his teenage tendencies that got him into SOLDIER. We finally stopped passing the trucks when we were in the second row from the front, the truck we were beside was on my right. The trucks behind us were honking quite consistently, Rye had definitely made an impression, no one could deny that.

We took comfort in our position for some time. Tobi had a toothy grin spread across his face; he loved Rye's stunts, especially when they dealt with Shinra, which wasn't that often. Akio was sitting back in his seat, not saying anything, but he didn't seem bored either. As for me, I had just looked out of the window to see if the driver was as angry with us as the others. The dark haired driver, who had to be at least Rye's age, was purely concentrating on the road. A few seconds passed and he turned to face our car, he flashed us a smile and gave a 'thumbs up' sign. It was intended for Rye, but I was the only one who saw it. Just before I could respond, Rye pulled off onto the side of the road. We were almost out of Midgar and he figured it was time for us to turn back.

It was probably a good idea, since I was about to roll down the window and accidentally cause the man driving beside us to wreck.

Rye glanced up to look in the rearview mirror. "Somebody's got that look in their eye."

"W-what are you talking about?" Sure I was caught off guard, I didn't think he had noticed.

A smirk pulled at the corner of his mouth. "I've seen that look hundreds of times on hundreds of girls who've had crushes on me. So, which one of them was it"

My cheeks started to warm so I bowed my head and turned to the window. I knew it wouldn't stop the question, but maybe no one had seen me blush. I just never get that lucky though.

"Suna's blushing!" Akio exclaimed from the backseat. He grabbed onto the back of my chair and leaned forward. "So…how about you answer Rye's question"

The question was answered, eventually. There was a bit more nagging and mockery, and I punched both Akio and Rye in the arm a couple of times each. Tobar just watched us. This was how we were. There was sibling rivalry, but there was always love. All we had was each other, and it had been like that for so long, we thought it would never change. Too bad life doesn't always go how you planned it.


	3. Chapter 2

I know it's been a while, but here's the next chapter!

Disclaimer (because I'm an idiot who forgot it before): I don't own FFVII in any of its forms.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

As fate would have it, Rye got into SOLDIER and left for Wutai. It was strange without him around. Tough too, but it was more Tobar that had the hard time. The kids at his school knew that he was wutaiian and they gave him complete hell about it. Rye was barely gone a month before we pulled him out of school.

Soon after that, Akio and I dropped out too. He opened a grocery store that I worked in when I wasn't home-schooling Tobi. We felt that there were still some things he needed to learn, he was still young after all. Sure, Rye's income was enough to keep us stable, we just needed something to do with our time.

The store seemed to keep us from being completely shunned from Midgar's society. No one believed our brother was fighting for Shinra, but the fact that we were supplying the army with preserves sat well with them.

Though all this time, my twin and I were against the war. We never showed it, but in the privacy of our home, we'd talk about it and wonder how high the death toll was in all. Often, we had conversations about how well we thought Rye was taking it. It being attacking our homeland, our people. It seemed like such a clash of interests. Rye had told us once that one of the Turks was wutaiian. He, along with a few other Shinra employees, came into the bar he had worked in occasionally. Being inside, just like Rye was, he knew more about it, he knew if it was as evil as it seemed. The question was, did he feel the same?

The Wutai war seemed to last forever, I guess all wars are like that. If just a little more information had been released, it might have been different. All I remember hearing was "The SOLDIERs are overwhelming them, it'll be over any day now". That itself lasted for months.

We weren't even told that the war had ended, or that Shinra had won. I'm sure we would have found out within the next few days, but it didn't happen by hear-say. One evening, just before our store closed for the night, someone walked in, the jingling of the bells on the door gave them away. When we came to the front, we knew the war was over.

It's wrong for me to say it, let along think it, but I thought Rye had died. Not on the battle front either, oh no, I thought he had been taken prisoner then killed for fighting for the enemy. No one knew whether or not Wutai had an assassin group like Shinra did. It was thoughts like that that made being a Turk so easy for me.

Yet, he was there. Right there in the front of the shop. No words could ever describe that moment, the relief of seeing your brother alive. We embraced him, of course, and I think Tobi almost tackled him. But, I don't remember crying. The moment seemed beyond tears. I don't want to know what losing him would have done to us, back then anyway.

Our reunion overlooked the man who had walked in with Rye. It wasn't until he was introduced to us that we even knew he was there. His name was Zack, a 1st Class SOLDIER the same age as Rye. His hair was dark and spiky, kind of like Rye's but longer. His eyes were similar to our eldest brother's too, purple-blue with a tint of green. The same green tint Rye now had, the same tint that I would have. All in all, it was amazing and slightly scary how much alike the two looked.

No, I didn't notice all this in that one day. I'd already known his features, I had since the day we chased the SOLDIER convoy.

Rye told us Zack was from Gongaga, and his family still lived there, so he had invited him to eat with us tonight. I, for one, had no problem with it, and neither did anyone else. Tobar wanted to hear stories from the war, he was always like that.


	4. Chapter 3

I don't have anything to say, other than this is my least favorite chapter so far.

Disclaimer: I don't own FFVII in any of its forms.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

--third person--

After that night, Zack became a part of the family's life, and nearly a member. During their time off, both he and Rye trained the twins to be prepared for the tests that were involved in joining Shinra. Though the two knew nothing of the individual test for the Turks, they continued to push them physically and mentally.

Overall, Suna received the most attention, since Akio would often be too busy with the store to train. Rye would insist on helping him if he could, leaving Zack and Suna to train alone. Well, not quite alone, Tobar would always watch, trying to learn as much as he could by just observing.

--Suna's P.O.V.--

You never really appreciate how comfortable the ground can be until after you've trained with a member of SOLDIER. Though, it probably doesn't feel the same when you hit it after taking a punch. Zack never hit that hard, and most of the time, he made sure his punches and kicks didn't land. It was training, not a real fight. He just warned me that in a real life situation it would be different. Being a Turk cancelled out being a girl.

Back to the ground…it was a nice place to lay down to take a breather. I don't know why that was, but it was always nice. Unless it had just rained…then you kind of sink into it. That's really not the point though.

"You're improving," Zack said from above me with a smile, "At this rate you'll make it in for sure!"

He was always so encouraging, no matter what. And he was always full of energy, which made it sort of hard to keep up with him. According to Rye, it's near impossible. And according to Sephiroth, there was no way in hell. Well, that wasn't a direct quote, exactly, but that's what Zack said the general had said about him.

Speaking of the general, he came by once, maybe twice. Actually, I shouldn't say that he "came by", he was figuratively and possibly literally dragged to our home by Zack, who claimed that Sephiroth should taste some "good ol' wutaiian cuisine." He was usually silent, the total opposite of the two who worked closest with him, but he never seemed as bad as the rumors made him out to be.

It was also through Zack that we meet Aeris, a kind, flower seller. She was his girlfriend, which I can't say wasn't a disappointment. Still, she was very sweet and soft spoken. I kept in touch with her as long as the other elements in my life allowed. It was nice to finally have a sisterly figure to talk to.

This group, relatively excluding Sephiroth, was close to our family, all because of our connections to Shinra. Though, later on, this connection brought around different emotions and a change of attitude towards the company.


End file.
